Let the Games Begin
by ice888cream
Summary: My name is Leo Blais. My girlfriend, Cindy Hart, was reaped into the Hunger Games. Then, my sister, Holly Leander, volunteered. I thought that my luck couldn't get worse. I was wrong. My blind brother, Jay Feather, was reaped, and of course, I volunteered. Now I have to kill my sister. I blame the Capital. They want entertainment? They'll get entertainment. Let the games begin.


"Leo!" My sister, Holly, calls from downstairs. "One minute!" I groan. I hear her coming up the stairs. I open one eye. I look at Holly. She has a worried expression on her face. "Today's the reaping!"

I jump 5 feet in the air and fall off my bed. "Already!?" Holly nodded. "What if Jay gets picked? He's blind! He won't be able to survive long!" Holly starts shaking. "He'll die!"

I do my best to reassure her. "He won't get picked. He only has 4 slips in the bowl, and there are hundreds in there. If he gets picked, I'm sure someone will volunteer." But as I'm trying to reassure Holly, I feel as if I'm reassuring myself rather than her. Jay wouldn't stand a chance! Sure, he knew a ton of herbs and could heal himself, but he was blind. He wouldn't make it far without getting killed or falling into a trap.

Jay appears at the door. "I can hear you two from over a mile away," he grumbles. Jay looks out our innocent faces. "I know you were talking about me. And Holly, if I do get picked, Leo will volunteer for me. Right, Leo?!" Jay glares at me.

"U-uh y-y-yeah…" I stutter. "Nothing to worry about…Uh… Bye Jay, Holly!" I throw on a shirt and a pair of jeans and run out the door. I grab some money left on the table and run outside as fast as I can. I take a deep breath and scan my surroundings. Ah… District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety. I walk towards the nearest bakery and buy a loaf of bread.

My family was lucky to be able to buy at least a loaf of bread every day. Some people in District Twelve could barely even afford to eat every other day. I sigh sadly at the thought that dozens of people in District Twelve were slowly starving to death right now. It made me sad, and I wanted to help, but my family was already running out of money.

If I just walked down the street all day, tossing out free money on the street, my aunt, Leanne would slap me and ground me for centuries. Which is like, bad. My father, Brandon, would totally beat me up and make work in the hospital with my brother. I mean, talking to my brother at home was bad enough because of his grumpy attitude, but working with him? At a hospital!? That would be torture. My mother, Scarlett, would literally toss me out on the streets and make me live with the hobos with only clothes and a can fire. I'm not exaggerating. She's a tough nut.

As soon as I drop the bread that I bought back at my house, I head to my girlfriend, Cindy's house. Cindy was 5'3. She had wispy, light, long black hair and blue eyes. Today she was wearing a black t-shirt with denim shorts that went to her knees.

Cindy frowns as I approach her. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for the reaping?" she asks me. I shrug. "I'll just throw on a button-up shirt and some jeans or something. I'll go if you want."

Cindy shakes her head. "No. You can stay, but tell Holly to come over. I want her advice on what to wear." Seeing my dismayed face, Cindy quickly adds,"Not that there's anything wrong with you. It's just that you're not a girl, and… You know…" I nod in acknowledgement.

"Ok. Anything else you need, Your Highness?" I say in a joking manner. Cindy rolls her eyes. "Just go!" She shuts the door in my face, leaving me standing there like an idiot. "Well then…" I say to myself.

I look at the tiny figure of my house in the distance. I groan inwardly. This is going to take a while.

As soon as I reach my house, I fall to the ground and start wheezing. Holly opens the door and looks at me weirdly. "W-w-wat-t-t-ter…." I pant. Holly grabs a cup of water and dumps it onto my face. I glare at her. "That's not what I meant."

Holly snorts. "I know!" I scowl. "Fine. Anyways, Cindy wants you to go over to her house, 'cause she wants your advice on what to wear to the reaping."

Holly grabs a few of her dresses and heads out the door. "Yeah, just ignore the dude in pain." I mutter. Holly hears my comment and comes back to kick me. "DAMN IT!" I yell.

Holly's laugh travels all the way from where she is to the front door. I stand up and dust the dirt and grime off my pants.

I sit and stare at my sister, her long black hair flowing from out behind her. She turns around and sticks her tongue out, her green eyes glittering. I spit on the ground and enter my house.

I check the time. 1:30. I should get ready for the reaping. I put on a casual button-on shirt and brush my hair. That should be good enough. I look at myself in the mirror. I studied my golden sandy hair and amber eyes. Every time I did this, I always wondered why people thought I had such good yet unusual looks. Any person in the Seam could dye their hair and wear contacts. I mean, my looks were natural, but I didn't get why people made such a big deal about it.

The same thing went for my siblings. Holly was 5'4. She had forest green eyes and long raven-black hair. Jay was short and thin. He had skinny shoulders and was the least graceful out of all three of us. He had smooth, silky, short dirty blonde hair with some premature gray and a genetic blond streak. He was blind, but it always seemed like he could see with with his brilliant, clear, pale blue eyes.

Everyone thought that we dressed differently too. I usually wore t-shirts and battered pants. Holly usually wore earrings shaped like holly leaves. She only wore green and black. Jay usually wore t-shirts and knee-length jeans. Our clothes weren't too unusual, but most people in District Twelve didn't where what we usually wore.

I checked the time again. My eyes widened. 1:55! I had to run. "MOM!" I yell. Scarlett runs down the stairs. "Come on, we have to get to the reaping," she commands. She puts her ginger hair in a ponytail and quickly puts on a short-sleeved green dress that went to her knees. My mother was only 35, so she could still look really pretty, which was kind of awkward when people checked her out.

"Where's Dad!?" I ask. "He'll meet us there," Scarlett says. "What about Aunt Leanne?" I question her. Scarlett face-palmed. "Of course! Go get her! Give her one of my dresses to wear." I grumble as I head out the door with a dress in my hands and go to the merchant area of District Twelve. I run to my aunt's herb shop.

Leanne looks at me questionably when I burst into her shop. "T-the reaping!" I pant. Leanne gasps. "Oh no! I need something to wear!" I give her the dress I took from Scarlett. Leanne squeezes into the short-sleeved white dress and zips up the dress from the back. I feel awkward as I stand in front of her when she's changing. Leanne puts her light brown hair in a quick braid behind her back. She keeps her white flats on.

"Thanks Leo!" She calls as she rushes out of her shop. "Yeah, just leave me here," I say to myself. I run out of the shop and follow my aunt. Leanne and I quickly let the people prick our fingers for identity by blood and stand in our sections.

I squeeze between the crowd of 16 year-old boys and stand next to my brother. I looked at Jay. His face betrayed no emotion, but his eyes were filled with worry and fear. I squeeze his arm. "You won't get picked," I whisper to him.

Jay frowns. "I wish I wasn't blind. Then, if I got picked, you wouldn't need to volunteer." I place a hand on his shoulder. "Even if you were picked and you weren't blind, I would still volunteer." Jay smiles. "Really?"

I nod even though he can't see. "You're my brother. I couldn't let you get hurt." Then, Midnight appears on the stage. Midnight talks into the microphone with her ridiculous Capital accent. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds ever be in your favor!" I glanced at Cindy. Her family was poor, so she had 38 slips in the bowl. The odds were definitely not in her favor.

Midnight smiles sickly. "Ladies first!" She reaches in to the girls' reaping bowl and picks a slip. Midnight slowly unfolds the slip for dramatic effect.

Midnight smoothes out the paper. In a clear voice, she shrilled,"Cindy Hart." My heart stopped. Did I hear that correctly? Cindy Hart? Cindy Hart, my girlfriend?

Cindy's siblings let out gasps and cries. It was pretty loud, because Cindy had 5 siblings. Cindy's mother and father were holding back tears. I feel a lump in my throat as I process everything. My girlfriend was going to be in the Hunger Games?!

"Cindy!" I cry out. She turns her back and looks at me with a heartbroken look. Just then, I heard something that surprised me even more. "I-I volunteer as tribute!" Then, I realized that the voice was extremely familiar, and I recognized it almost immediately.

"Holly!" I hear myself scream. I feel myself pushing people out of my way to get to her. Peacekeepers hold me back. I bite one in the hand and step one's foot HARD. The two Peacekeepers both yelp and let go, but the other Peacekeepers keep hold. Tears rush down my face.

"Holly…" I croak. I reach out my hand, but she was already at the stage. I trudge back to my place next to my brother. Jay has tears on his face, and his breaths are coming in ragged gasps, but he says nothing.

Midnight smiles. "How exciting! A volunteer! I bet my hat that boy was your brother." Holly nods slowly. "Yes…"

"What's your name, dear?" Midnight pries. "H-Holly Leander." Holly replies slowly.

"As for the boys…" Midnight's hand slowly circles around the boy's reaping bowl. She picks a slip of paper from the top and unfolds it. "Jay Feather."

Jay sobs. "No! I'll die!" The Peacekeepers start dragging him to the stage. "No!" I wail. "Jay, you can't go too!" People look at me with pity.

Then, I did something that I thought I would never have to do. "I volunteer as tribute!" Silence. There's only silence. "Leo…" Jay starts. Jay can't think of anything to say. Peacekeepers shove Jay onto the ground and let him run back to our parents. I get taken to the stage by Peacekeepers.

"What's your name, child?" Midnight asks. "Leo Blais." Midnight smiles. "Wonderful! Come on everyone! Let's give our newest tributes a round of applause!" To the credit of everyone in District Twelve, nobody claps.

I can see my family in the back of the crowd. Brandon has Jay in a tight embrace. Aunt Leanne is crying and hugging my mother. Mayor Firenze, our grandfather, has a grim look on his face. He reluctantly says the speech that was required every year during the reaping. When he's done, Midnight motions for Holly and I to shake hands. We shake our hands. I squeeze her hand reassuringly before I let go.

The screen focuses on Holly and I. Holly looks beautiful in her black and green dress and black flats. I just look like a doof who threw on a random pair of clothes and rushed outside. Which is, in fact, true.

We turn back to face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays. Would I have to be forced to kill my sister? I shake my head to clear my thoughts. _Whatever,_ I think_. There will be twenty-four tributes. Odds are someone else will kill my sister before I have to._

Of course, the odds are never in my favor nowadays.


End file.
